Desired (20 page)

The active protection order popped up on the screen, and Kyler scanned over the report. The more he read, the more he despised it. Not only did it confirm that Ella was married, but it seemed that scar on her face had been caused by her husband shoving her into a glass table in a drunken rage.

Leaning back in his seat, he exhaled slowly. Raw jealousy penetrated him now, knowing that she was married. Then the anger developed, for the simple reason that she hadn’t told him. Yet, all the same, he sympathized with her silence. Her past marriage wasn’t good. Maybe she worried if she opened the door it would lead to questions she didn’t want to answer.

She had told you she was coming out of a long relationship
.

While he had heard part of the truth, this awareness also told him he hardly knew her. That bothered him far more than anything else. Rubbing his hands over his face, he pondered his next move. Fuck, he felt like shit for even finding out this information. He would’ve preferred to hear it from her mouth, not learn of her past this way.

However, his biggest concern:
Rory’s in Vegas
.

Kyler began to understand why Ella had seemed so troubled over the past days. Perhaps Rory had made contact. Heat flooded his body at the disturbing thought that quite possibly she’d been threatened.

While he was tempted to call her and get this sorted out, he knew better than to confront her. She hid this maybe out of embarrassment, or perhaps she wanted to fight this battle on her
own. Bulldozing his way into her life wasn’t his way, nor was making a bad situation worse.

He craved protecting her. Nothing else mattered.

She might not want his help, but being proactive was never a bad thing. Dropping his hands, he picked up his personal cell phone on the desk and dialed Club Sin Dom Porter.

Porter answered on the second ring. “This is a surprise.”

“Need a favor,” Kyler said.

“Always. What’s up?”

“Look into someone for me.” Porter was a private investigator. In fact, one of the best in Las Vegas. Sometimes cops were tied up with thick red tape and endless paperwork, whereas PIs had more room to seek information. Kyler wouldn’t wait for Ella’s husband to do something that would warrant police intervention. Not on his fucking watch. “His name is Rory Snow.”

“Snow, hmm …” Porter said with hesitation. “Is that not the last name of your sweet little thing?”

“It’s her husband,” Kyler replied, scraping a hand over his tired eyes.

Porter coughed. “Did you say ‘husband’?”

“Yeah, sadly, I did.” Kyler dropped his hand. “This needs to stay between us, but I want you to find out more about him. He’s come to Vegas. I want to know where he’s staying.”

Porter paused. “Is he a problem?”

“That’s what I need to find out.”

Just after four o’clock, Ella hurried out of the elevator, waving at Thomas and approaching the front doors of the office. When she stepped outside, she scanned the area for Rory. Her heart thudded in her chest and a cold sweat washed over her skin.

She never spotted him on the street, but the sensation of being watched never faded. Maybe her threat of calling the police had finally gotten him to see sense. Or so she hoped.

As her gaze drifted along the road, she found Kyler’s truck waiting at the curb, and she smiled in relief. He’d called earlier to say he’d be picking her up after work, and her car would be safe left at the office overnight. She mused to herself,
For not wanting a relationship
,
you sure seem to be in one
. Though she discovered that each hour that passed, every moment she
spent with him was unexpectedly welcomed.

The hot air tightened her lungs as she hurried to the truck. She couldn’t ignore the sense of normalcy overwhelming her. As if her past, pending divorce, the abuse had all disappeared, as if it never happened. Almost as if the fresh start she’d been searching for, she found.

Things are good, Ella. Enjoy it
.

At the truck, she opened the passenger-side door. Kyler greeted her with his charming smile as she pulled herself up into the truck. “Where are we off to?”

“My parents’ house,” he replied in a flat voice.

She froze midway to doing up her seat belt. “We’re going to meet your family?”

“Yep.” He turned on his truck, glancing sideways at her with his grin intact. “Scared shitless?”

“Um …” She looked down to her yellow flowered print dress, pulling on the hem and wishing she had looked in the mirror.

His fingers twined with hers, drawing her focus. “Stop worrying. You’re beautiful, and they’re going to love you.”

She gulped. Meeting the family? Wasn’t that kind of a big step? Part of her liked the idea of him wanting to share his life with her. The other part wanted to get out of the truck and run.

That was relationship stuff, things people who were dating each other did.

Kyler barked a laugh. “Friends do take friends to family events.” His smile faded into a frown. “As you keep reminding me that we’re friends-with-benefits, I’ll remind you that I’m not taking you there as a girlfriend, but as a friend. There’s no need to hyperventilate.”

“Sorry. You’re right.” She chuckled away her ridiculous thoughts. “It’ll be fun.” The last thing she wanted to do was lead him on. Passion with Kyler was unbelievable—scratch that, it was mind-blowing. He was gorgeous and completely lovable, but she didn’t want another messy relationship.

She just needed to keep telling herself that.

Kyler put the truck in gear and then booked it down the road. Las Vegas streets whipped by her window, and she stole glances at him. His fingers gripped tight against the steering wheel, and an odd tension exuded from him.

To break the stifling silence, she said, “The doctor called a few hours ago and she got my clear test results in. I plan to grab them on the way to work tomorrow.”

“Good. I’m glad they came back so quickly. Though I should have known they would.” He smiled, warmth shining in his features. “Mary tends to rush results for new Club Sin members.”

“She’s not a member at Club Sin, right?”

Kyler shook his head, taking a left turn. “She used to play at my old club with her husband, Charles, who passed away a few years back. The crowd at Club Sin is young. I doubt she’d feel comfortable there.” Then he gestured to the envelope tucked in the side of the seat. “That’s your police report.”

“Oh, nice.” She swallowed against the surprising heady desire filling her.
This is happening
. “So, tomorrow is the night, then?”

He chuckled, low and deep. “Tomorrow is the night.”

With thoughts of her first night as a Club Sin submissive swirling in her mind, she remained silent on the remainder of the drive. As the truck slowed, she noticed he drove into the Henderson suburbs. She’d been shown a house in this part of the city by her real estate agent, but the neighborhood had been too family-oriented for her.

Kyler stopped the truck in front of a Spanish-style house that had a rustic tile roof with palm trees and large cacti decorating the front garden. She followed him out of the truck, and when he reached her around the hood, he said with an amused voice, “Look out, you’re about to be attacked by the mob.”

Ella turned, seeing a bunch of young children running straight for them. Kyler brushed past her, meeting the kids halfway, and dropped to his knees as the kids tackled him, screaming, “Uncle Kyler.”

She smiled.
Cute kids. Sexy Uncle
.

As quick as the kids jumped him, they were off and running toward the backyard. Ella noticed two of Kyler’s brothers, she assumed, since they looked a lot like him only older, standing at the gate to the backyard, watching their children. Then a soft voice said, “Tackle, uncle Ky-Ky?”

Ella looked to the small boy, then said to Kyler, “Uncle Ky-Ky?”

He patted the head of the littlest boy, who hadn’t run fast enough to catch Kyler earlier. “Apparently, Kyler is a tricky name for little monsters.” On his knees, he turned to the child and opened his arms. “Come get me, tiger. I’m shaking in my boots.” The kid leapt into his arms and
Kyler pretended to fall back, holding the child in his arms and making dying noises.

“Uncle Ky-Ky die.” The kid jumped off, laughing, and ran toward the other kids.

Kyler called, “Joey, go be a zombie and scare all the girls.”

Joey lifted his arms. “Me. Zombie.” Then he went toward the backyard, screaming.

Kyler pushed off the ground and Ella shouldered him, smiling. “You’re sweet with them.”

“I like kids, always have.” He placed a warm hand on her back and ushered her forward. “Let’s go meet the older mob, since they’re all staring at us anyway. Be prepared to have my mother gush all over you.”

Ella looked to the backyard, seeing he was right. Three couples and Kyler’s parents she assumed all had their eyes trained on her. All three brothers shared their father’s traits of a tall frame and light brown hair, but Kyler had a little more muscle than the rest. Two of the older brothers were a little softer around the middle, as was his father. The oldest brother was slender, and just a bit taller than the rest.

“Everyone, this is Ella,” Kyler said. “You can all stop staring at her.”

His brothers laughed and said hello to Ella before they all shared a manly hug with Kyler. Ella received many nice-to-meet-yous from Kyler’s sister-in-laws, who were all ranging from mid-thirties to early forties. But then the eldest woman, looking around sixty, with short brown hair that was perfectly curled, stepped out of the group. Her soft blue eyes held Ella’s before she hugged her.

“Welcome, Ella.” Kyler’s mother leaned away, hooking her arm into Ella’s. “Let’s get to know each other over some wine. I could use some help in the kitchen.”

Kyler’s father, with the stern eyes, frowned, brushing a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. “Lisa, do not frighten the poor girl away.”

Leaning away from the last brother he hugged, Kyler added with a grin, “Forgot to tell you, my mother is nosy and will ask you a thousand questions.”

“Oh, hush, you.” His mother waved a dismissing hand. “That is a blatant lie.”

Ella laughed, thinking Kyler’s family was sweet.
Real
.

Lisa turned to Ella. “I have lived with men for almost my entire life. I’m not nosy. I am simply well mannered and talk to people.”

Ella laughed, stepping into stride with Lisa. She glanced over her shoulder to Kyler, and
warmth crossed his features, and something else she couldn’t quite place. He seemed to be happy that he could share his family with her.

She returned the smile and chuckled a second later as the little zombie attacked Kyler.
Sexy. Good with kids. Devilishly kinky
. Lord, he was perfect. He shared so much of himself with her, asking for very little in return. As much as this moment felt good, she couldn’t ignore the pang of guilt inside.

You share nothing with him …

Twenty minutes later, and after a round of questions from Kyler’s mother about Ella’s life, which she kept to simple facts, an easy comfort slid into her. The big glass of wine helped, too.

She finished cutting the green pepper, glancing at Kyler out of the kitchen window and into the backyard. She smiled as he chased the little zombie around, pretending to be a zombie himself.

“He likes you.”

Ella turned, finding Kyler’s mother smiling. She replied, “Well, I like him, too.”

“He hasn’t brought a lady home to meet the family in a long time.” His mother started cutting up some red pepper next to Ella. “How long have you two being seeing each other?”

“A couple weeks now,” Ella admitted. Musing to herself that she couldn’t possibly say,
We’re not seeing each other. Your son is opening my world to the greatest sexual adventures of my life
.

She grabbed another green pepper and started cutting. As the knife sliced through the pepper, she pondered her relationship with Kyler. He made it seem that bringing friends to his family’s house was a regular occurrence. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

The scared part of her didn’t like that he took such a big step forward. The stronger part of her heart melted that he’d thought to bring her there—to share this part of his life with her.